Mortal Instinct
by Brawl499
Summary: In a world dominated by two deadly tournaments, a shady organization, mysterious ninja clans, and slumbering demigods, what sides will the legendary warriors shaped by these factors take, and who, if anybody, will win in the end? Will take aspects from MK Timelines 1 and 2
1. Chapter 1

_2: 00 AM, Inside a High-Rise Condo, Tokyo, Japan…._

Gently popping an air vent grating out of place, a Lin Kuei assassin gently let his feet drop out of the new hole in the roof, lowering down until he's feet were an inch from the floor. Letting go, the man dropped into a swift crouch, keeping watch as four more Lin Kuei assassins dropped from the vent-hole. All rising to their feet, the five assassins slowly spread out through the condo, searching for their target. Having dropped in through an office room, three stepped out onto a second-floor balcony overlooking the living room, while two took the stairs down. All clad in typical Lin Kuei masked gear, painted midnight black, the two descending assassins spread out.

Making a hand gesture to check the kitchen, one of the assassins instructed the other to do so while he checked the bedroom. Pushing the door open gently, the Lin Kuei assassin found their target.

_Hoisted almost 3 feet off the ground with his windpipe being crushed._

His throat being crushed in a one-handed grip by an unknown entity, the Lin Kuei assassin quickly shut the door. Getting his breath, things got rather unpleasant as the wooden door leading to the bathroom was smashed to bits. Being thrown into the wall opposite the door, the Assassin lifted his head to see who caused it. Standing 6'5", the being had glowing red eyes, a black mouthguard, a broad, black metal chest, and unusually thin legs. Quite visibly a machine due to the black tubing protruding from various parts of its bodies, a pair of two-bladed energy weapons appeared on its forearms, emitting a low hum as they illuminated the dark room around them.

Leaping to his feet, the Lin Kuei assassin assumed a ready stance, unnerved as the machine's head tracked him, but its body did not move. Advancing, the assassin threw a high kick at the machine's head, being abruptly stopped as the m machine caught his leg. Holding the leg in place with its right hand, the machine brought its left elbow down, breaking the man's knee. Swapping its grip to hold the man's leg by the ankle with its left hand, the machine swung its right arm-blade up into the man's chest, causing the blade to diffract and emit a small concussive explosion. Being thrown off his standing foot by the blast, the assassin was thrown back as his ankle was released, sailing a good 5 feet back towards the living room.

Finally moving, the machine's left forearm popped open, revealing a small console that the machine tapped a few key inputs into. Vanishing into thin air in a mess of heat distortion, the distortion mellowed out just as the machine's red eyes vanished as well. Completely silent, the tension in the room ran high as the other four assassins sprinted down to see what happened. About to help their ally up, the downed man's life was abruptly ended as the machine appeared again, foot placed atop the downed assassin's forehead. Pushing straight down, the machine's foot pressed with enough force to crush the assassin's head into a bloody mess.

Stepping back quickly, two more assassins assumed a fighting stance, one flanking the machine's right while the other leapt up for a high kick to the head. The machine's eyes flaring up, the high-kicking assassin stood no chance as a brief, abrupt pair of red lasers shot from the machine's eyes, striking the assassin in the chest. Dropping to the floor immediately, the assassin fell back-first and ceased to move, a small trail of smoke coming from his chest. With that threat down, the machine turned to its right, breaking the other assassin's neck with a quick backhand. Tapping another command into its console, the machine's blades pressed together and did a 360 degree rotation around its forearms, then separating and assuming their previous position. Now humming louder and glowing brighter, the blades were even deadlier, as demonstrated when the machine ran its blades right through the chest of another assassin. Lifting him off the floor, the machine looked into the man's eyes, hurling him off the blades and through a table right after.

Preparing to flee, the last assassin decided that the job was done anyway, hoping to escape with his life. The humming from the machine's blades decreasing in intensity, that was the only thing saving him from immediate death as the blades struck him in the back. The small blast sending him off his feet, the assassin hit the floor hard, rolling over just in time for the machine to clutch him by the throat. Hoisting the assassin into the air, the machine looked the man in the eyes.

"Fulgore." The machine stated in a thickly digitized, inhuman voice as its eyes flashed brighter for a moment. table to issue a retort, the assassin's feet aimlessly kicked in the air as the machine held him there. Walking towards the large glass window panes at the edge of the condo, the machine wound back its right arm, hurling the poor man through the glass and out of the condo to his death. And with that, everything froze.

"And…..that's it. That's all the security footage from your dead man's apartment. If he didn't kill your guys, I'd say you should thank the bastard for doing your job for you, killin' the poor bloke." Kano pointed out, casually tossing a knife up and down as he reclined back in a chair, his feet propped up on a table. In front of him was a series of monitors, and beside him, standing up, was the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei. Behind the Grandmaster, standing over his shoulders, were the Grandmaster's son and an unknown, black Lin Kuei dressed in black and yellow.

"Any idea on who could've done this?" The Grandmaster inquired, locked in a perfectly upright position with his arms behind his back.

"The big thing said Fulgore before it tossed your boy out the window. Ultratech's got some revolutionary war machine called the Fulgore unit, big fucker with blades, lasers, pretty sure one model even had a turret built into it. They've gone through a few models, so if I had to guess, Ultratech's probably testing their newest Fulgore model, and they just so happened to get the idea of offing the same guy as your clan to test it. Probably didn't mean to attack the same guy as you, but they probably don't care either." Kano reasoned, recognizing the plume coming from the back of the machine's head and its overall stature as being similar to the Fulgore-1 and Fulgore-2 models that had come and gone in the past.

"Those were good men, not inexperienced apprentices. If we are to keep up, we need to improve." The Grandmaster pointed out, partially speaking to himself. "What else do you know of this…Fulgore….unit?"

"Mostly that it's a cyborg. Organic brain all trussed up and tucked away behind thick armor plating in the head. Even with emotional inhibitors, something about that human element makes it more effective than a synthetic brain. Doesn't hurt that it's covered in armor plating tough enough to make .50 BMG feel like bug bites." Kano answered, giving all he knew.

"Very well then…..contact your cyberneticist, I'd like to get in touch with him." The Grandmaster requested, making a hand signal for his guards to turn 180 degrees and follow him out the door. This event was going to bring about a new era in the history of the Lin Kuei.

"Will do, crazy bastard." Kano mumbled, snatching a phone off the table he had his feet propped on.

_Meanwhile, in a Babylonian Tomb…._

With a heavy bang, the stone doors to the ancient, dusty Babylonian tomb were blasted open, chunks of stone careening through the air. As the dust settled, a series of flashlights pierced through the dust cloud, lighting the way as a squad of soldiers entered with their guns raised. Dressed head to toe in black, the soldiers had black helmets with closed faces, the fronts resembling a metal gas mask with internal filers and 8 red, small lights oriented like a spider's eyes as optics. They wore heavy ballistic vests, in tandem with shoulder and forearm plates, the shoulder plates being long enough to shield their biceps as well. Each one had a large backpack loaded with ammo and other gear, as well as cargo-like pants with numerous pockets. In tandem with their thick, back boots, they also wore shin and knee guards made from the same material as their helmets, with sidearm holsters strapped to their right thighs, and another ammo pouch hanging off the back of their waist. Emblazoned on all of their right shoulder-pads was the logo of Ultratech, a black and red triangle with a black circle inside it, placed on top of that being a white capital U.

Totaling 10 soldiers in all, 8 were male and 2 were female, but all had the same deep, flange-heavy voice due to in-built voice modifiers in their helmets, the only difference being a small physique difference. 5 of them were armed with black-painted Beretta ARX-160 assault rifles, mounted with a variety of optics between the five of them. 3 of the other 5 were carrying FN P90 SMGs, while the last two carried NeoStead 2000 combat shotguns. Every single one of them had a firearm-mounted flashlight, which they put to good use as they fanned out through the tomb.

"Looks like an ancient library, any idea what we busted down this door for?" One of the ARX-wielding Ultratech agents asked, looking around for any signs of something special. The most he could see as valuable was a pair of strange globes on pedestals, placed on either side of a series of wall engravings. In line with the wall engravings was a large book on a pedestal, the cover also possessing strange symbols.

"Who knows, we just needed to crash in and see if there are any wild animals that might've found their way in through a crack in the wall. Last thing we need is a science crew getting torn up because something snuck in and couldn't get out." A different soldier explained, poking the book on the pedestal with her NS2000. Not realizing just what she was touching, everything changed as she felt something hit the back of her neck. Trembling left hand reaching up to her throat, the soldier felt the tip of a knife protruding through, her blood leaking out as the life quickly left her. The knife leaving as quickly as it entered, the sound of the soldier's body hitting the floor got everyone's attention. Flashing their lights where the noise came from, none of them liked what they saw as they laid witness to a thin, grey-skinned man with a receding hairline and glowing white eyes. His nails were long and pointed, his frame was lanky and malnourished, and his entire body was coated in bandage wraps, a myriad of amulets and other jewels dressed over that.

"You won't be needing this anymore….." The man said with a smile, pulling a sort of blue energy from the deceased soldier's corpse before moving his hands around it like a mystic and their crystal ball.

"Friendly down, friendly down! Open fire!" One of the surviving soldiers yelled, all 9 of them trying to throw as many munitions downrange at their target as possible. The 8 with assault rifles and SMGs firing in full-auto, the decrepit being didn't stay for long. A well of dust appearing behind him, the man was hurled over their heads by a large, sandy hand erupting from the floor. Landing behind them, the dainty man swung an outstretched bandage in a wide arc, smacking all 9 soldiers off their feet. Careening back in the direction of their dead comrade, all became frozen in fear as the book the dead soldier was poking at began to float. Drifting over into the dainty man's hands, the unusual creature waved his hand over it, causing the book to fly open and flip to a specific page.

Raising his arms into the air, the being began to chant, causing the two globes seen earlier to glow blue and rise. In addition to that, the area where the engravings were on the wall turned into a void, almost like a tear into space itself. Various objects starting to get sucked in, the intensity rose dramatically as the being changed the following: "من قبل الآلهة إيا وأبس, ، إبعاد هؤلاء الدخلاء على الأرض بين، حيث يجب أن تصرخ أرواحهم إلى الأبد!"

"By the gods Ea and Apsu, banish these intruders to the land between, wherein their souls shall scream for eternity!" Their helmets' in-built translation devices played back, translating the being's speech. Recognizing the implications, all of them tried to run in vain, each being sucked off their feet and into the portal. Vanishing into the heartless dark, all the soldiers were lost to time as the being slammed the book shut, closing the portal and causing the globes to resume their previous state.

"And now, with that worthless girl's soul, I can speak the languages of this new world. Quite interesting….." The being, who once was and would soon be known again as Kan-Ra, mused as he prepared to depart from his tomb, excited to learn what this new world had to offer.

Post-Chapter Note

And that concludes the first chapter. Biggest thing I want to stress up-front is the Story Title is maybe permanent, maybe a placeholder. I mostly came up with it at the last second just because the story needs a name to be published, and I'm a bit iffy on it. If it grows on me, and other people like it, it'll stay. If everyone thinks it's a crappy second-rate name, it'll go in favor of something else. Second, I quickly want to explain the behavior of Fulgore's blades: As a sort of explanation for how all his opponents aren't appetizer-sized meat cubes by the end of his first combo, the way his blades work in this is that, normally, any diffraction in the light of the blades (Such as them impacting something) causes a small sonic boom at the point of diffraction, kinda like a mini-explosion.

This causes concussive damage, can propel enemies backwards, and is effectively how he normally fights in hand-to-hand. However, at the press of a few keys, his blades will spin just like they do in his victory animation or during his teaser at the end of Spinal's trailer, after which they will glow brighter, hum louder, and effectively act like a lightsaber: Searing through metal and skin alike. It can only be done for a short time since it directly feeds from his reactor core, but it's a massive threat level increase regardless. Also, take note of what the Grandmaster asked Kano to do: This is after Kano gets his cybernetic eye, but before the conception of the Cyber Initiative….

Next, in terms of Kan-Ra's dialogue, I actually researched a list of Babylonian gods and goddesses, and found two that sounded up Kan-Ra's alley: Apsu, the ruler of gods and the underworld's oceans (It's mostly the underworld part, which would be synonymous with the void he sucked the soldiers into, as well as the dark arts he uses to stay alive), and Ea, the god of wisdom, arts, and crafts (All of which can be indicative of culture, something that would further Kan-Ra's knowledge as he'd be able to see how the world is growing in that aspect). In terms of his language, unfortunately Akkadian, the language spoken by the Babylonians, is not on Google Translate. I used a close second, Arabic, which is a Semitic language just like Akkadian. Not perfect, but it's as close as I can get being Akkadian is an extinct language. Also, the logo on the Ultratech Soldiers' shoulders, if anybody was curious, is the logo seen in the beginning of Riptor's KI 2013 trailer. It's also where I got the black and red color scheme idea from, only further backed by the fact that it's largely Fulgore's color scheme too aside from his orange plume and blue blades.

Finally, this story will take a similar approach to my League/Soul Calibur crossover: A number of different, unrelated events between groups of characters that come together into a sort of mega-event, before said groups disperse at the event's conclusion and will come together later. Groups also may cross in smaller-scale events, so it's not just grandiose happenings like armies clashing.

Also, this story will feature all the KI 2013 Characters guaranteed, and maybe some that aren't in KI 2013 if they're asked for repeatedly or serve quite a perfect role in part of the story. In addition to that, while I can say now with 100% certainty that Cinder will appear, it won't happen until his KI 2013 appearance is revealed in his own trailer, since that's the one I would want to use. In terms of MK characters, most if not all of them will appear, but there are some (Such as Mokap) who will be relegated to quite minor roles, appearing _very _little. No big fighters like Reptile or Ermac will be so blatantly forgotten about, just the little runts that barely come up in the back of your mind when you think MK.


	2. Cybernetic Initiative

Chapter 2: Cybernetic Initiative

_Near a Tibetan Monastery, up in the Himalayas…._

_Engage Advanced Protocols:_

_Unit LK-9T9 - Sektor_

_Unit LK-4D4 - Cyrax_

_Unit LK-1V1 - Hydro_

_Unit LK-7T2 - Smoke_

_Unit LK-8R8 - Tremor_

This recital was the last thing Kuai Liang heard before fleeing the Lin Kuei temple, having narrowly avoided the automation process for the time being. Knowing that Ultratech wanted to make amends with the Lin Kuei over the incident with their newest Fulgore unit, the ninja clan decided to accept a contract from the mega-corporation to kill the latter's long-term nuisance, the Tibetan ninja-monk Jago. Having destroyed both previous Fulgore units, Ultratech was getting understandably irate with the man. For that very reason, Kuai Liang was in the Himalayas following loose claims that Jago had gone back to the Tiger Monastery to live in seclusion after his destruction of the second Fulgore. With Smoke converted to a cyborg and his older brother Bi-Han dead, Kuai Liang was desperately searching for any allies he could find. Arriving at the massive, wooden front doors of the decrepit, aging temple, with no locks, barricades, or other obstructions to stop him, the cryomancer pushed his way into the temple, not finding much.

There was nothing painfully obvious of a fight like blast marks, bomb residue, or blood, but the entire front-end of the temple looked like it had been attacked already. The entire wall to his left was gone, and the roof above him was almost down to just the wooden beam-framework at this point. The long benches were coated in snow, and the large lanterns situated around the room were coated in rust. At the far end of the room, seated in front of a large, semi-damaged golden Tiger Shrine, was his target.

"What brings you here, Tundra? I thought your order wasn't allowed to interact with outsiders unless they wished to kill them." Jago pointed out, completely unaffected by the snow whipping through as he sat in a cross-legged meditation position, having been contemplating how he was going to rid himself of the last remnants of Gargos.

"I'm not with the Lin Kuei anymore, they strove to automate their ninjas into soulless cyborgs. I refuse to sacrifice the only thing that differentiates me from the blade one uses to conduct their work as an assassin. I came here to warn you that the Lin Kuei have received a contract from Ultratech to kill you, and they'll most likely be on their way any moment now. It's to make amends after Ultratech's new Fulgore unit killed a Lin Kuei team, so their bounty was quite high." Kuai Liang explained, deciding that his assuming of the title Sub-Zero in honor of his brother would wait until a little bit later. This statement catching his attention, Jago's eyes snapped open as the large man rose to his feet calmly, turning to face the ex-Lin Kuei.

"Follow me, explain everything." Jago ordered shortly, turning to walk away to a set of smaller wooden doors leading further back into the monastery. Following, Kuai Liang was hopeful that his plan was working. Leading the cryomancer into an equally large room with an actually complete left wall, this enclosed room was lit up with a massive line of candles along the far walls, the far end having a smaller version of the Tiger Shrine outside staring down at all who enter. Turning to face Kuai Liang, Jago waited attentively for an answer.

"There's not much to explain that hasn't already been said. The Lin Kuei will no doubt hunt me for deserting the clan, so I came out here to propose we work together against a common enemy. With my elder brother, Sub-Zero, dead, I have nobody else I can look to for assistance. In addition, from here on, I've decided to assume my brother's title in his honor. So, do we have an agreement?" Sub-Zero asked, admittedly not in a position to make demands.

"In my mediation, I began to determine that there is no way to purge the last vestiges of this demon except for in the heat of combat. As such, I accept your offer, if only to see if perhaps your Lin Kuei will prove a worthy enough adversary." Jago agreed, taking a small bow forward now that he considered the new Sub-Zero an ally. Returning the gesture with a bow of his own coupled with placing a closed left-fist into an open-palmed right hand, Sub-Zero's gesture was quickly outweighed by abrupt noise as the wooden doors they used to enter were suddenly blown to splinters. Sub-Zero whipping around and assuming a combat stance beside Jago, the two ninjas watched as the smoke cleared.

"Target acquired, eliminate target Jago. Enabling combat mode, disabling safeties." A grey, armored cyborg spoke in a semi-digitized voice as it stepped through the smoke, accompanied by a group of 7 more matching cyborgs. Getting a better look at them, they seemed like indistinct Lin Kuei grunts, simply possessing Cyrax's chassis in a dull grey color with grey optics and most likely lacking all the special tools 'Advanced' Lin Kuei like Sektor, Cyrax, or Smoke would have.

"Usually a Lin Kuei is more silent than this, keep your eyes open for a potential ambush." Sub-Zero warned, finding the cyborgs' abrupt entry to be quite odd. Even if they were run-of-the-mill Lin Kuei, run-of-the-mill still meant silent and deadly, not door-breaching and announcing your intentions. Giving a small nod to indicate he understood, both ninjas went quiet as all the cyborgs assumed a proper fighting stance, the air getting tense as they spread out across the back part of the room. Not wanting to make the first move for fear of a trap, Jago and Sub-Zero waited as a slightly bigger Lin Kuei grunt took the first steps in the form of a bounding sprint at them. Leaping into the air and preparing to strike Sub-Zero with a wide-swinging kick, the cyborg was abruptly halted as Sub-Zero hurled a ball of ice right into the cyborg's stomach. Freezing solid, the cyborg helplessly dropped to the floor as Jago stepped forward, swinging a vertical kick into the cyborg's jaw to shatter the thin layer of ice. Flipping backwards from the force of the blow, the cyborg landed face-down, taking a second to recalibrate before swiftly pushing to its feet. Seeing another Lin Kuei come in to assist, Sub-Zero gave a quick directive for Jago to handle the first one before they split up.

Not intimidated by the Lin Kuei's armor plating and augmented strength, Jago quickly advanced, doing so with a leaping kick followed by a trio of alternating left-right-left jumping kicks to the cyborg's chest. About to deliver a fourth kick, this was halted as the cyborg caught his right shin, yanking Jago right off his feet. Falling on his back, Jago quickly rolled out of the way as the cyborg tried to stomp his chest, shoulder-rolling to his feet. Immediately closing the gap before the cyborg could process what happened, Jago opened with a rising uppercut to the cyborg's chin, launching the assassin off his feet. Leaping up to intercept the cyborg, Jago pulled the Tibetan Broadsword from his back before pointing the tip downwards, landing beside his target and spearing it through the cyborg's stomach just after the latter hit the ground. Having landed in a kneeling position, Jago rose to his feet before placing a foot on the cyborg's head, stomping it to the side with enough pressure to ensure his target's neck was broken. Running the blade between his left bicep and forearm to clean the black blood off of it, Jago returned the sword to his back before assuming a ready stance in anticipation of the other assassins.

Meanwhile, Sub-Zero was having little trouble fending off his attacker, slamming a conjured Kori Blade through the man's right pectoral, puncturing the cyborg's lung and splitting one of his ribs in two. Wrenching the handle to the side to launch the cyborg into the floor as the weapon shattered, Sub-Zero took advantage of his target landing face-down to coat his right foot in ice. Advancing on the downed assassin, Sub-Zero quickly swung his ice-coated foot into the back of the cyborg's head, no doubt cracking the man's skull as the ice shattered to bits at no expense to Sub-Zero's foot. Not done, Sub-Zero then conjured a pillar of ice under the downed cyborg's stomach, the fact that it quickly shot out of the ground causing the cyborg to be propelled upwards. Conjuring a larger, sharper, more ornate Kori Blade as his target fell head-first downwards, Sub-Zero didn't let the man reach the floor in one piece, slashing upwards to split the cyborg clean in two from head to pelvis.

Deciding that 1-on-1s weren't going to work, the remaining 6 Lin Kuei attacked both ninjas in pairs of two, two of them hanging back to support as needed. One of them getting quite brash and making a sloppy kick against Sub-Zero, this flaw was quickly punished as the cryomancer pressed his hands into the cyborg's stomach. Focusing all his power to freeze the cyborg's midsection solid, Sub-Zero quickly followed up with a leaping roundhouse, effectively bisecting the cyborg with nothing but his shin as the ice shattered to pieces along with the man's midsection. Conjuring a Kori Blade to block the other cyborg's swings, Sub-Zero found it had more use with Jago, who was getting cheaply double-teamed. Hurling the blade at Jago, the Tibetan Monk saw it coming, shoving one of his assailants into the path of the blade as it speared said cyborg's right shoulder. Grabbing hold of the blade-end, Jago used it as a handle to yank the dazed cyborg right into another rising uppercut. Shattering the lower end of the blade in the process, Jago clutched the end of the blade that he still had to use as a throwing knife, hurling it into the uppercutted cyborg's abdomen. Counting that assailant as out of commission for the moment, Jago turned his attention to his other attacker.

Seeing the cyborg's chest panels open up for some reason, Jago instinctively took this as an opportunity, hurling an Endokuken right at the exposed cyborg. Striking the assassin right in the core, the heavy damage caused a small burst within the cyborg's systems, blowing its back plating clean out and creating a hole through which Jago could see the back wall. Drawing his sword as the cyborg's malfunctioning chest plates slammed shut, the Tibetan Monk closed the gap followed by delivering a series of diagonal upward slashes. Almost carving an x into the cyborg's chest from the strength of his swings, Jago followed up with an upward jab, spearing his sword through the bottom of the cyborg's head. Head snapping upwards as the rest of the cyborg's servo-augmented joints seized up, the cyborg effectively locked up and tipped backwards as Jago withdrew his sword. Turning to see Sub-Zero strike his opponent in the neck, the cyborg dropped to its knees, helpless as Sub-Zero clutched his target's throat. Letting out a pointless, digitized yell as Sub-Zero pulled upwards, the yell was abruptly silenced as the cyborg's head and spinal cord were swiftly separated from the rest of its body. Dropping his trophy, Sub-Zero and Jago both crossed the distance to the other side of the room, the last two Lin Kuei cyborgs being oddly still. Standing side-by-side, both automated ninjas each typed something into their left wrists before vanishing into thin air.

"What? A Lin Kuei wouldn't just abandon a contract like that…" Sub-Zero noted in confusion, not understanding what was going on. Hearing a small wooden creak above him that didn't sound like the wind, Sub-Zero suddenly knew _exactly _what was going on as a small, black cord shot down from the roof above them. Blocking it with a quickly-dissipating sheet of ice, Sub-Zero briefly got a glimpse of the three-pronged, black tip at the end of the cable as it retracted into the roof. Bracing himself, Sub-Zero waited and watched as a prominent cloud of smoke descended from the roof. Almost moving with purpose, the cloud slowly drifted over their heads, coming down in front of them. Condensing, the cloud quickly dissipated as an old friend took its place.

"Tundra, you are to return to the Lin Kuei temple immediately for automation. Come willingly, or I will be forced to subdue and bring you back myself." Smoke ordered, stepping forward slightly as he made his demands. In cyborg form, he largely had a frame like Cyrax, with the beak-like mouth replaced by a silver, flat, rectangular plate going straight down the front of his helmet starting at just below the eyes, with two sets of silver, parallel metal strips coming off either side of the vertical one, wrapping along the side of his helmet. His chest had a series of three V-shaped plates layered atop one another, with the one at the top of his chest being on top, as well as slatted, almost samurai-like shoulder and bicep armor. One of his most defining features, however, was the presence of black, grate-like vents between the parallel bars on his helmet, on the sides of his thighs and shins, on the backs of his forearms, and running up his back that emitted a near-constant puff of smoke from them. In addition to all that, his frame was painted a mix of violet blue and silver, with violet blue being predominant while the silver was largely just on minor detailing in certain regions.

"Smoke…..It's hideous what they've done to you. I'm sorry my friend, I'll try to make this quick." Sub-Zero apologized as he prepared to fight, knowing that every cyborg except Sektor got slaving protocols to make them deathly loyal to their objectives. "Jago, try to subdue him, not kill him. I feel that with a little luck, perhaps we can restore him to at least half the man he once was."

Giving a silent nod, Jago also prepared to fight as Smoke lowered his arms, began to slowly walk towards them, and swiftly picked up pace into a speedwalk, then a full-on sprint as charged his opponents. Seemingly running right at them without a plan, Smoke had them both fooled as Sub-Zero tried to hurl an ice ball, only to watch it pass through harmlessly as Smoke dissipated into another cloud. Moving through the two ninjas before reappearing behind them, Smoke wasted no time in leaping up to deliver a downward strike on Sub-Zero. Generating an ice clone locked in the position he was in, Sub-Zero leapt for the floor to evade the strike, Smoke effectively splitting the clone's head open as he froze solid. Still standing where he was, Jago took the opportunity to deliver a roundhouse kick, striking Smoke right in the back and shattering the thin layer of ice that held him in place. Being launched off his feet, Smoke landed almost directly on Sub-Zero, trying to swing a kick at the cryomancer as he quickly flipped back up. Disregarding Jago as a side-note due to his directive being Sub-Zero, Smoke immediately turned on the ex-Lin Kuei, swinging a high-kick aimed at his target's head.

Blocking the kick with his forearm, Sub-Zero proceeded to do so against three more high kicks, only to be caught off guard as Smoke did a 360 twirl, leading up to a diagonally upwards-pointing kick into his chin. Bending backwards from the force of the blow, Sub-Zero was briefly dazed and confused, helpless as Smoke brought back his right fist for a straight-punch to the head. Deciding the time was now to act, Jago sprinted into action, delivering a leaping kick into Smoke's right shoulder to knock him away from Sub-Zero. Wasting no time in drawing his sword, Jago got Smoke across the chest with a diagonal slash, followed by two more, and then a high-aimed spin kick striking Smoke in the side of the head. Quickly shaking his head in response to the blow, Smoke blocked a followup kick before delivering his own trio in the form of three straight punches aimed at Jago's heart. Striking the Tibetan Monk with a right elbow, Smoke then went low, sliding to the floor and catching Jago's legs in a scissor takedown. Twisting his hips to yank Jago right off his feet, Smoke then swiftly shifted his legs to face away from Jago, crawling over and mounting him. Sitting up on Jago's abdomen with his fist raised, Smoke tried to bring it down with all his strength, cracking the floor as Jago jerked his head to the side. About to try again, Smoke was interrupted by a successful ice ball to the chest, freezing him solid. Coming in as fast as Jago had, Sub-Zero swung a spin-kick aimed right at Smoke's head, launching him back towards the exit.

Striking the ground with the back of his head, Smoke crashed and skidded into the far wall, sparks firing off from his joints as his vents began to spew a more copious amount of smoke. Rising to his feet slowly in a rickety manner, Smoke got his bearings and assessed damage, internal nanomachines working away to repair him. Having been foolishly in a diagnostics screen, Smoke closed the menu to see Jago, now on his feet, with his elaborate tattoos glowing a bright orange color. Going for the confident advance again, this plan only made it about three steps before his legs locked up to mend some minor knee damage. Looking down at his unresponsive legs, Smoke's return to looking at Jago was met with the sight of a larger Endokuken being hurled right at him. Trying to disengage the leg repairs, this was to no avail as the large fireball impacted his chest, actually causing a small blast that threw him through the wooden wall and back outside. Landing in a pile of wooden debris, Smoke's systems underwent emergency recalibration, trying to rush repairs to his most critical points.

"Hurry, I strongly doubt that put him out of commission for long." Sub-Zero advised, hurrying through the blasted-open hole that was a door before the nameless Lin Kuei arrived. Finding Smoke in the center of the monastery's main chamber, both ninjas were stopped short as Smoke rolled over onto his hands and knees, pushing to his feet. Turning to face his attackers, Smoke's movements were more jerky and rigid, as if he were forcing himself to fight. His chest plate splitting open down the middle to reveal a glowing blue core, this was quickly followed up by a trio of orb-like grey balls being ejected from his chest. Clanking onto the ground with a dark blue light swiftly circling along the middle of each one, the bombs promptly bursted, spreading a thick cloud of smoke across the room. The air growing tense as they lost sight of Smoke, both ninjas were startled as a loud, mechanical, ka-chink-like noise could be heard, followed by a massive, three-pronged harpoon on a black cable shooting out through the smoke. Lodging itself in in a head-sized wooden ornament, Smoke unwittingly drew it back full-speed, the sound of a heavy metal clang noise followed by Smoke's unpleasant, digitized yelp of surprise indicating that he didn't see it coming.

The smoke not lasting long, Sub-Zero and Jago advanced on Smoke, who was comedically trying to wrench a wooden tiger statue from his harpoon. Seeing that the whaler-worthy harpoon had come from the middle of his chest, Jago and Sub-Zero couldn't help but stop and watch for a moment as Smoke was almost fighting against himself, pulling his harpoon out as far as it could go while the harpoon kept trying to retract in order to dislodge the tiger ornament. Finally dislodging the wooden ornament, Smoke's harpoon collapsed into a single point and disappeared inside his chest just in time to witness Jago swing a high kick to the side of his head. Reacting quite unpleasantly to the blow, Smoke's less-than-stellar design due to his forced automation was finally backfiring on him as his neural net began to go haywire. Behaving in a manner similar to someone frantically hitting every button on a controller, Smoke's joints began to spark again as he couldn't do much more than stand in place and lackadaisically let his head drift in circles. Seeing that Smoke was borderline out of commission, Jago could feel something within him making a demand.

_Finish him! End his wretched life in defense of yours! _The voice demanded, seemingly eager to see Jago's sword through Smoke's abdomen. Feeling the power try to force him into action, Jago braced himself, fighting against it in what looked on the outside to be a momentary pause. Smoke's neural net eventually going offline to preserve itself, this resulted in Smoke tipping right over, falling on his back as the cyborg was out of commission. With Smoke down and out but not dead, the mysterious voice stopped, seemingly dissatisfied with Jago.

"Good, he appears to be offline but still alive. Now perhaps I can try to seek some aid for him." Sub-Zero thanked, kneeling beside the KO'd Smoke. Feeling the need to atone for what he'd done for Gargos, Jago decided Sub-Zero was worth sticking with, having an offer.

"I have a sister, she did not take the life of a monk like I did, nor that of a ninja. She's quite knowledgable with technology, perhaps she can help your friend." Jago offered, hoping Orchid didn't get herself killed trying to pursue Ultratech to their grave. The fact that they bounced back after losing their Fulgore-Mk2 must've only spurred her even more.

"Where might we find this sister of yours?" Sub-Zero asked, standing up again to look at Jago. If he had a real chance to save Smoke's humanity, he was willing to go to any corner of the Earth to do it.

"I believe we can find her in the Americas. North or South I do not know, but it should be relatively easy to find out." Jago explained, Sub-Zero nodding in agreement that she was their next target. Walking over towards Smoke's head, Sub-Zero knelt down as Jago went to Smoke's feet, Sub-Zero grabbing Smoke under the shoulders while Jago got him by the ankles. Hoisting their soon-to-be allied cyborg up off the ground, the two warriors slowly departed, no doubt eager to find an animal that could carry Smoke for them on its back.

_Meanwhile, near an undisclosed Ultratech Base, South America…._

Creeping through the bushes, all was nearly silent as Khameleon tip-toed past guard patrols, not trusting in her invisibility to hide from such technologically-advanced troops. Having made an ally in the form of the human calling herself B. Orchid, Khameleon agreed to help her root out Ultratech in exchange for assistance in finding her fellow Saurian, Reptile. According to information given to her by Orchid, Reptile was here in another one of his futile, foolish attempts to restore the Saurian race in a manner that didn't involve freeing the survivors from under Shao Kahn's boot. Khameleon was here to find him and possibly talk some sense into him, even if that meant dragging his barely-conscious body out of South America. Seeing a pair of troops that had stopped in an open-backed Jeep, Khameleon snuck the long way around, creeping up into the back and going invisible to hide as the two soldiers got back in, completing their patrol.

"So, did you hear what they're doing down in the hatcheries?" The driver asked his front-seat passenger, starting some conversation.

"Yeah, something about dinosaurs, right? With that Reptile guy that came in?" The passenger asked, having heard loosely of it.

"You've got it, apparently that guy's _actually _a reptile. Something about using his DNA to stabilize that Riptor project we've been guarding. You know, the whole cybernetically-enhanced-raptor thing?" The driver clarified, punching something into a keypad mounted into the dashboard to indicate they were on a return trip.

_So that's what he's here for…how has this man survived this long? On indiscriminately submissive behavior and botched, rash attempts that consist of just passing his genetic code around like it was a free sample? _Khameleon rolled her eyes, slamming them shut as a drop of rain fell through the exposed back of the Jeep and struck her between the eyes. Now just irritated to learn that the man she sought to restore her race's glory with was an overly-submissive buffoon, Khameleon rolled over in the back, resigning herself to the ride as she knew further thought on the topic would just distract her. Riding peacefully, albeit with immense boredom, in the back of the Jeep for another ten minutes as the vehicle calmly bumped over dirt hills and through carved paths, Khameleon's interest was soon grabbed again as the scenery finally changed. Surprisingly not having some predictably secret entrance such as the side of a hill sliding apart, the Jeep pulled into what looked to be the entrance of a parking complex leading downhill, the entryway consisting of a ramp that led underground. Feeling the rain no longer striking her back, Khameleon rolled over, staring right up at the ceiling as it changed from blue skies and jungle canopy to concrete and black metal, with dark red lights rimming the edges of the tunnel. Waiting for the vehicle to come to a stop, Khameleon decided that these two might have some valuable information.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get something to drink now that our break's started. Wait here for me?" The passenger asked, starting to get out.

"Sure, no problem." The driver agreed, taking off his black and red, multi-eyed helmet. Being left alone as Khameleon popped her head up, the driver was soon in for an unpleasant fate. Looking around and even standing up in the back of the Jeep thanks to her invisibility, Khameleon saw that, once the passenger was gone, she and the driver were the only souls in the room. Swiftly dropping back to a kneel, Khameleon leaned her head in close beside the driver's to test how well she could reach him. Deciding it would work, Khameleon pulled her head back, sitting straight up on her knees as she pulled down her veil. While her mouth and face were shaped just like a normal human, that did little to change the fact that her teeth were only slightly less vicious than that of a Tarkatan. Not having the immense curve and size that made a Tarkatan's teeth protrude from their mouths, Khameleon was actually able to hide her pin-like meat-shredding teeth, though that was the last thing she intended right now.

Leaning back in to bring her invisible head next to the driver's, Khameleon waited for the driver to relax, swiftly covering his mouth with her left hand and pulling his head against the seat by placing her right hand over his forehead. Startled, the man got little chance to react as Khameleon pushed forward, sinking her teeth into his neck as her invisibility disengaged. Going for sheer puncturing force instead of causing a mess by ripping and tearing, Khameleon sat there, pushing her teeth as far in as they would go while the man slowly stopped resisting. Once she knew the man had died, Khameleon gently released her grip, pulling away while still keeping her hand over the man's forehead. Moving her right hand to grab him under the shoulder while her left hand did the same just on the left side of his neck, Khameleon tried to discreetly pull the man over the seat and into the back. Finding some resistance, Khameleon was confounded, not seeing what was catching. Tugging repeatedly, Khameleon eventually looked down at the man's hips, finding the answer to her problem.

_Oh…Seatbelt. Forgot humans used those things. _Khameleon noted, unclipping the seatbelt and pulling the man's body over into the back before too much blood dripped on the driver seat. Getting him totally into the back, Khameleon leaned back into the front to retrieve the man's helmet. Pulling a chip from the back of his helmet, Khameleon slotted it into the side of the wrist-mounted GPS/computer hybrid Orchid had given her. Consisting of a long, grey box made of what the humans called 'Space-Age materials', the machine had a small port for little chips on the side of it, two USB ports along the top of it, and a small screen with a directional and number-pad on the right side. Large enough to run along the entire back of her left forearm, the device was firmly affixed to the Saurian's forearm by two reinforced clamps at either far end. Not as bad as it sounded, the device actually sat quite comfortably, not irritating Khameleon anywhere near as much as she thought it would. The device processing the contents of the dead guard's helmet-chip, Khameleon soon found herself looking at a top-down map of the complex, complete with labels and current position. Admittedly, she was starting to regret not accepting the contact lenses Orchid offered that would enable her to see her route in her actual vision.

Checking the man's pockets, Khameleon found nothing but a family photo, which the Saurian irately flicked away, and the man's ammo and sidearm. Drawing the gun out of its holster, Khameleon mostly just inspected it to know what she could anticipate other guards will point at her. Orchid had trained her in firearm use, but the _quite _distinct lack of any holsters, pouches, or any pockets for _anything _on her uniform made carrying a firearm rather impractical and useless in the long-term. Unless she intended to carry a handful of spare mags in her free hand, she'd be better off stealing and using enemy firearms mid-combat as the need arises rather than waste time leaving evidence in the form of a mysterious pistol she forgetfully left on a countertop. Seeing the man had nothing else to offer, Khameleon pulled her veil back up, going completely invisible once more as she stepped out of the Jeep. Quietly circling around the left side of the Jeep to make sure her heels didn't make too much noise, Khameleon waited for the driver's accomplice to return. Checking the map once more, Khameleon memorized her route in her head, which involved going from here through the Barracks, then to the Central Lobby, off to the Hangars, and then finally to the Hatcheries.

As Orchid had taught her, Khameleon was going to have a contingency plan. In the event that Reptile was uncooperative, Khameleon was going to have every passenger-bearing aircraft in the hangar sabotaged to limit his chances of escape. Saurians can effortlessly see other Saurians through their invisibility, and the lockdown she'd no doubt trigger if things went that far would bar them from the garages. As the schematics indicated, the facility locked down in two halves, right and left. Currently she was in the Left Wing, and the Hangar and Hatcheries were in the Right Wing. Hearing her target come back, Khameleon was casually waiting, sitting on top of the hood of the Jeep as the man unwittingly didn't notice her.

"Damn, must've been called off for something…" The man muttered, clutching his VHS-2 rifle by the carrying handle in one hand and holding a bottled soda in the other. Walking back over to the Jeep, Khameleon scooted off the hood, not giving the man a chance to see the drops of blood spilled on the driver-side. Speed-walking over towards him, Khameleon opened up with a sudden strike aimed right at the man's helmet, throwing him off-balance. Not having time to properly raise his rifle, the gun was promptly yanked from his hands and seemingly floating in the air as far as he knew, as Khameleon grabbed it by the barrel-end to swing like a bat. Not wanting to set off alarms due to the gun's lack of a suppressor, Khameleon instead swung at the back of the man's right knee, dropping him to a kneel before swinging as hard as she could, effectively batting him in the side of the head with the gun's stock. Swinging again, Khameleon let the gun slip from her hands as the second swing finished, closing the small gap between them to pull his helmet off. Further confused as his helmet seemed to fly off after his rifle just borderline mugged him, the man was helpless as Khameleon slammed her knee into his chin as hard as she could.

Cracking the man's jaw from the force of the blow, Khameleon followed up with an equally devastating roundhouse kick, cracking the side of his skull. Falling to the floor, the man was barely there as Khameleon hoisted him back onto his knees, placing her hands on his cheekbones. Letting herself become visible again, Khameleon stared right into the man's eyes before jerking the man's head to the side, no doubt fracturing the neck portion of his spine as he fell over, dead. Checking his pockets too, Khameleon found something slightly more useful in the form of a keycard, which would ideally grant her access to the Hangar and Hatcheries given it came up earlier in a manner that sounded like he'd been there. Regretting that her uniform had literally no pockets whatsoever, Khameleon huffed a deep sigh before tucking the keycard behind one of the edges of her uniform, making a note to invest in a belt with pouches when this was over. Dragging the man's body around to the back of the Jeep, Khameleon heaved the dead body up into the back, piling it on top of her other victim. Finding a tarp she could use, Khameleon pulled it over the two bodies, hoping it would be a decent while before the bodies were found.

Distancing herself from the Jeep, Khameleon checked her GPS again, making sure she was going the right way as she exited through a simple metal door leading further into the facility. Engaging her invisibility again in case of security cameras, Khameleon took note of how this facility was function first, comfort second, all the walls being either midnight black or drab grey, the most color being blood red accents along the edges. And, just in case anybody forgot who they were working for, the Ultratech logo was emblazoned on nearly every locker, door, cabinet, and notable piece of equipment she passed by. Having to go at an intensely slow pace to avoid making any noise, Khameleon gently crept by groups of Ultratech soldiers coming and going from the Barracks, the myriad of firearms they carried not reassuring her at all. Starting to speed-walk in an attempt to get away from the crowds of heavily-armed troops, Khameleon froze like a statue when she heard one remark something about a clacking noise. Waiting, Khameleon gently turned to look at the soldier in question, who quizzically stared in her general direction as if waiting for something. Looking away, the man seemed to lose interest.

Carrying on, Khameleon left the Barracks, coming to a multi-floored, brighter room that almost looked like it would be the lobby of a public building. There was a proper, albeit massive reception desk, message boards and monitors hung high that gave status updates on the facility and relayed messages to the staff in general, and even staff that looked to be neither scientists nor soldiers. Deciding it was of little importance, Khameleon checked the GPS again, seeing she needed to go up the stairs and across to the other side of the U-shaped room in order to reach the Hangars. Spotting the stairs in question, Khameleon righted her posture from a hunched crouch to upright standing, deciding to take it calm and careful as if she were actually meant to be there. With much more commotion to mask her footsteps, Khameleon strolled on by the passing workers, her invisibility doing its job.

_Does this place not have thermal sensors? Or, anything else that would detect me? _Khameleon wondered, remembering how Orchid had _very _specifically noted thermal sensors and cameras as things to look out for. It took some explaining to get Khameleon's head around the idea of what both did, but in the end it was for the better. Ascending the stairs, Khameleon's eyes almost hurt slightly with looking at the sterile white scenery, the stark contrast to the Barracks threatening to give her a headache if she stayed longer than need-be. Stepping left and right to dodge small groups of workers and guards as she wrapped around the U-bend of the second floor, Khameleon discreetly tried to open the door leading to the Hangars, finding she needed a keycard to do so. Pulling out the one she had stolen, Khameleon slotted it in as best as she could guess it would go, eliciting a small beep as the light above the slot turned green. Withdrawing the keycard and tucking it away again, Khameleon tried to open the door as little as possible, gently sliding between the door and doorframe as she snuck in.

"_Thank you,_ dark colors once more." Khameleon mumbled, rubbing her forehead due to the lack of anyone on the other side of the door in an attempt to mend her headache. Deciding it was a futile effort, Khameleon winced slightly before carrying on, finding it to be a long, grey concrete hallway, almost like a service hallway leading straight to the Hangar. Opening the door at the far end of the hallway, Khameleon was slammed with a distinct temperature difference as she was technically outside now, feeling the cold, humid air gusting against her from the open end of the hangar. Seeing that it was technically built into the side of a cliff, Khameleon got a mischievous idea on how to subdue any passenger aircraft. Needing to take a stop and rest behind some crates from abusing her invisibility, Khameleon let herself become visible again as she gently crept up to what she correctly identified as a fuel line. Seeing that one end led off into a massive fuel tank while the other branched off into a series of five smaller tubes, Khameleon noted that each branched end was positioned right by one of the five small attack choppers nearby. Deducing that the cables must be detached so pilots can just up and fly off in a hurry, Khameleon spent the rest of her time catching her breath to see what else needed to be tampered with.

Spotting a massive C-130 plane, Khameleon figured that would especially be a big target, going for it next. Aside from that, the hangar seemed empty, as the rest of the aircraft were probably stored somewhere in the floor or ceiling and rotated in as needed.

_If I just sabotage the fuel lines and tamper with one of the plane's engines, none of the aircraft will be in an operable condition. _Khameleon pondered, deciding it would do quite nicely. Having her moment of rest, Khameleon went invisible again, rising to her feet and gently sneaking over to the closest of the five helicopters. Inspecting the bottom of it, Khameleon eventually noticed a small panel, just barely visible against the rest of the helicopter's hull. Pulling it open, Khameleon then grabbed the closest of the five cables and reattached the cable to the plug on the helicopter. Hoping that would cause a disastrous fuel ignition incident, Khameleon moved on to the next one, repeating the process. Knowing what to do this time, she was much faster in reattaching the fuel line, thankfully so as her time was getting cut short. Wandering over as part of his patrol, an Ultratech guard was quite curious as to what was happening by the attack choppers, loosely aiming his VHS-2 rifle in Khameleon's direction.

Hoping 2 would be enough, Khameleon gently slinked out from under the helicopter, slipping around behind the guard in order to break his neck. Doing so with quick and simple precision, the situation quickly became anything but quick and simple as the sound of more guards yelling behind her could be heard, obviously alarmed by their partner's sudden demise. Grabbing the man's gun, Khameleon looked at it quizzically after diving behind a large crate, having not been taught how to operate a VHS rifle. Figuring out that the man had the safety on due to the lack of any gunfire when she pulled the trigger, Khameleon dropped the rifle, knowing she'd have to do this CQC. Becoming visible again, Khameleon popped her head up to instigate enemy gunfire, making sure their weapons would actually be primed and ready. Ducking back down, Khameleon went invisible once more before taking the long way around, grabbing their attention again when she wrenched free a long, metal rod that vanished into thin air. Now on edge, the guards didn't see as Khameleon snuck around to the back of the group, swinging the rod upwards between a guard's legs. Not done, Khameleon then rammed the rod directly into the man's back, fracturing his spine as he was thrown face-first to the floor.

Becoming visible, nobody seemed to notice or care as Khameleon's uniform took on a deeper shade of green, more preoccupied with trying to drop her as she slammed the rod end-first into the floor, using it to vault into the air. Doing a small flip, Khameleon came down hard, slamming the rod into the floor like a hammer right over another guard's head. Landing on her feet, Khameleon then did a wide swing with the rod, batting the rifle out of a guard's hand. Throwing the rod to impale the disarmed guard, Khameleon's uniform reverted to its normal color as she slid between a guard's legs, quickly kicking to her feet when she was behind him. Whipping around to try and bash her with the stock of his rifle, the guard's gun was caught mid-swing by Khameleon, who wrenched it downwards and out of his hands. Grabbing her wrists, the guard thought he had her subdued when suddenly Khameleon lifted her right leg, resting it on the guard's left shoulder. Doing the same with her left leg and his right shoulder, the confused guard unwittingly let go, letting Khameleon fall into a handstand. Pressing her shins together around his neck, Khameleon bent her abdomen inwards, the tight grip around the man's neck causing the deceptively strong Saurian to lift her opponent off his feet, slamming him headfirst into the floor. Moving the rest of the way to roll backwards onto her knees, Khameleon grabbed the dead man's VHS-2 rifle before scrambling behind another box. Looking back at the man she took the gun from, he didn't move, no doubt having suffered either spinal damage or a concussion from the force Khameleon put into her grab.

Having seen the man reload his rifle just before she attacked him, Khameleon rose from behind the box, rifle in hand. Unfortunately, for all the firearms training Orchid had given her, none of it covered restraint or keeping your nerves in check as Khameleon haphazardly sprayed the entire 30-round magazine downrange. While she did kill one of them, the other four guards were barely grazed despite Khameleon's commendable control of the recoil, as hip-fire was still hip-fire. The other four guards diving for cover as Khameleon's gun ran dry, the Saurian became frustrated with her lack of knowledge on how to reload a VHS-2, instead throwing the empty gun right at the head of a guard as he peeked up. Ducking low and crawling back over to the man whose gun she looted, Khameleon found a large knife, removing it from his belt holster to use on his still-living allies. Going invisible, Khameleon tried to gently creep along the far right side of the group. Coming up behind the back member, Khameleon quickly pushed the knife through the back of his neck, eliciting a small choked scream that got the attention of his teammates. Withdrawing the knife, Khameleon's uniform flashed blue for a second as she stole the dead man's knife, hurling both of them at another guard. Impaling his shoulders, Khameleon made a rush for the guard, delivering a rising knee into the guard's chin as her invisibility vanished.

Disoriented, the guard fell back as one of his allies tried to shoot the elusive Saurian. Pushing his gun off to the side, Khameleon wrenched the man's firing arm backwards, pushing on his trigger finger and causing him to shoot his only standing ally in the stomach. Wrenching his arm further behind his back, Khameleon head-butted the guard, making him drop his rifle. Stepping to the man's right side, Khameleon placed her left hand over the guard's covered face while bracing her right arm over his waist, pulling him back-first over her knee as she dropped to a kneel. Doing so with abrupt force, Khameleon broke the man's back with a sickening crack, gently rolling him off afterwards. Walking over to the dazed guard, Khameleon placed her heel over his neck.

"Where's Reptile?" Khameleon asked, being short and to the point. Seeing the guard try his hardest to point in the direction of a door at the far side of the room, Khameleon checked her GPS, indicating that it was where the Hatcheries were. Not even giving thanks, Khameleon instead forced her heel down, killing the man quick and easy. Turning back to the large C-130 plane, Khameleon got an idea. Seeing some high-strength cable that was clipped into a floor-rooted metal bar only a few inches long, Khameleon undid the clip at one end of the cable. Walking over to the C-130's left wing, Khameleon threw it high, over the width of the wing. Going over and grabbing the end of it, Khameleon brought it back and clipped it into the floor-anchor once more.

_Hopefully, if they're in a hurry, that will rip the wing off, or at least complicate taking off with disastrous results in some other way. _Khameleon thought, turning towards the Hatcheries. Taking the back-broken guard's VHS-2 rifle, Khameleon made a note to try and control herself more as she walked away. Finding this door oddly didn't need a keycard, Khameleon pulled it open, entering a small outdoor stretch of land. Seeing that the sun was setting fast, Khameleon hurried on to the other side, entering a strangely more complex, thick metal door. Now back inside, the first thing Khameleon encountered was an unwitting guard with his back turned. Holding the rifle sideways, Khameleon raised it above the guard's head before pulling it down and against his neck. Pulling back, the guard tried to fight as Khameleon used the gun to strangle him, unfortunately in vain. Giving a small knee into the man's back to force the point, this quickly caused him to give way, all forms of struggle stopping soon after. Gently guiding him to the floor, Khameleon righted her grip on the gun before carrying on, seeing she was in Hatchery 03. Feeling like she was close, Khameleon vaulted over a railing, landing down in the midst of a group of massive gel-filled tubes. Seeing each one had what looked to be a cybernetically-enhanced Velociraptor, one stood out, actively looking around while the others slept.

"_This _is the abomination that Reptile's agreed to make? He must have terribly loose definitions of restoring a species." Khameleon commented, almost off-put by the thought of Saurian DNA being used to make this tool of war more effective. Hearing footsteps behind her, Khameleon whipped around with rifle raised, having found her target. Seeing that Reptile was walking with what looked to be a head scientist, Khameleon didn't give the man a chance to speak, firing a burst from her rifle right into the scientist's chest. Drastically alarmed, Reptile immediately knelt by the dying scientist, no doubt the one whom Reptile was helping with the Riptor project. "Reptile, calm down. This man was making abominations from your DNA, these _things _aren't true Saurians."

"How you know my name?!" Reptile yelled, his voice and manner of speaking far more jagged, messy, and botched than hers. If Khameleon had to guess, serving under Shao Kahn meant he lived around Kahn's Tarkatans a lot, the less intelligent of which spoke in a very similar manner. In contrast, Khameleon spent most of her time blending in and socializing with humans, especially Orchid, so naturally her speech took a much more refined approach.

"Because I'm like you, Reptile. I'm another Saurian. Wasn't your goal to find someone like me so we could try to restore our race to its former glory?" Khameleon asked, kneeling beside Reptile with her left hand on his shoulder.

"You're no Saurian! He was helping me make Saurians, and you killed him!" Reptile replied, shoving Khameleon right on her ass and away from him. Almost dumbstruck at how delusional Reptile had become, Khameleon stayed there.

"Reptile, how do I not look like a Saurian! Have you ever seen another race that can possess translucent skin?!" Khameleon yelled back, hoping to make Reptile snap out of it. "This man was helping you make mindless war machines with just a _sliver _of our DNA in them! They barely even look like us!"

"No, you must be one of Shang Tsung's tricks. Shao Kahn said no other free Saurians exist. He said there were no more females, that this was the only way." Reptile denied, still not believing it.

"Reptile, Shao Kahn's leading you around by the balls while your head's shoved too far up your overly-submissive ass to even realize it! Even if Shao Kahn knew I was free, he'd tell you otherwise to trick you into being loyal!" Khameleon berated, pushing to her feet. Growling in frustration, Reptile leapt to his feet, lunging at Khameleon and going for her gun. Grabbing hold of the side with both hands, both Saurians wrestled for control of the gun, causing Khameleon to accidentally slam down on the trigger. Thankfully they were both unharmed, but the emptying of the magazine resulted in shattering three of the glass tubes surrounding them, one of which was the awake Riptor unit Khameleon noticed. Alarms going off due to sensors wired up to the glass, the whole base was on full alert as Reptile and Khameleon stared at each other with a shared _Oh, dammit _expression, both still holding the rifle. Four guards storming in, they cared little for Reptile's life, still opening fire as one of them got Khameleon in the back of her left shoulder. Legs going weak for half a second on impact, Khameleon fell forwards at Reptile slightly, the latter noticing the suspiciously convincing green blood coming from her wound. While Shang Tsung's impressions were convincing, open wounds still bled red blood, even when imitating species like Saurians.

Thinking that maybe he was wrong, Reptile threw Khameleon off to the side, safely out of the way. Removing his mouthguard, Reptile whipped his elastic tongue out, wrapping it around the barrel of a guard's VHS-2 rifle. Pulling backwards, the gun was yanked right out of his hands, skidding across the floor as Reptile let go of it. Not knowing how to use firearms nor caring about them, Reptile let it sit, instead going invisible. Rushing right at the guard, Reptile delivered two quick slashes with his claws, one across the man's stomach and the other over his neck. Reappearing, Reptile prepared a Force Ball, jamming it into the guard's stomach wound. Detonating, the Force Ball blew apart his entire upper half, serving as the perfect distraction while he leapt at the next closest guard. Literally leaping onto the guard, Reptile rode the man to the floor as the latter fell backwards, only to get his helmet wrenched off and his head hacked apart by Reptile's claws. Turning around to face the attackers on the other side of the room, Reptile leapt at the wall, crawling along it for a moment before leaping off.

Coming right at them, Reptile ducked past the closer guard, striking him in the back of the head with a quick elbow bash. Disorienting the man, Reptile was able to then turn his attention onto the last guard, grabbing hold of his rifle by the front end. Not waiting to try and wrestle for control of the gun, Reptile instead head-butted the guard, knocking the man's head back slightly. Free to wrench the gun from the guard's hands, Reptile just tossed it to the side before delivering a straight kick to his opponent's stomach. Knocked off his feet and striking the metal stairs behind him back-first, the guard was barely considered a threat at this point, groaning in pain as he clutched his stomach. Trying to simmer down, Reptile's attention was grabbed again when a gunshot fired off behind him, his first thought being that he'd been shot.

Not feeling any pain, Reptile looked further up the stairs, seeing another guard slowly falling to his knees before rolling over and tumbling down the stairs. Looking closer, the guard had a single, punctual bullet-hole right in the middle of his helmet, directly where the forehead would be. Turning around, the attacker was none other than Khameleon, who had looted the elbowed guard's pistol and knife. The knife was lodged in the back of said guard's neck, and Khameleon was down on one knee, aiming the pistol at where the head-shotted guard previously was. Dropping the pistol, Khameleon rose back to her feet and cautiously approached.

"Believe me now?" Khameleon asked with an unseen smile, to which Reptile quickly nodded. Before Khameleon could follow up with another statement, a loud growl behind her froze her in place. Turning around gently, Khameleon found herself staring face to face with that awakened Riptor unit. Slowly approaching, the Riptor seemed more curious than hostile, gently nudging at Khameleon's knee with its nose. Placing a hand on the Riptor's head, Khameleon gently petted it, guessing sudden movements would be bad. "Well then….come on, lets find a way out. This thing can live."

Following Khameleon back up the stairs and out of the Hatchery, they were quickly brushed past by the Riptor unit, who took its first sight of the outdoors to leap down the side of the hill, skidding into the brush and out of sight. Stopping a moment in light of being overtaken by a literal raptor, the two Saurians were alerted as a loud, metal wrenching noise could be heard to their left. Looking in that general direction, they watched in stunned silence as Khameleon's sabotage had worked, the C-130 from earlier evidently being used to try and evac the base. Unfortunately for them, the left wing was almost entirely missing, the C-130 starting to climb before quickly nosediving into a far-off hill, going up in a great ball of fire.

"Well, not quite how I imagined it would end….." Khameleon commented, surprised at just how explosive it got. Turning back to Reptile, she had something rather unpleasant to say. "Now, Reptile, I need you to listen: I need you to go back to Shao Kahn."

Looking at Khameleon with an almost half-downtrodden expression, Reptile didn't need to say anything to show he didn't like this.

"Relax, it's only temporary. I need you to go back and be an informant for me. Tell me what he's planning, where he's vulnerable. I want to topple his entire empire, free our race, and reclaim our home. But I can't do that without your help. I'll be working to try and raise an army against him, and your help will make that army even more effective. Just apply for more tasks that send you to Earthrealm, I promise we'll be able to meet quite often. As long as you don't lose sight of what Kahn asks you to do, I'm sure he'll trust you to keep coming here." Khameleon explained, putting one hand on Reptile's shoulder as she spoke.

"What about that?" Reptile pointed out, gesturing to Khameleon's shoulder wound.

"I'll be fine. I've got a friend helping me, I just need to cover the wound and I'll get the bullet removed when I get back to her. Just remember I exist Reptile, because between the two of us, we can save our race." Khameleon promised, wanting to make sure Reptile's chances of going insane stayed slim. Silently agreeing, Reptile went invisible, Khameleon doing the same as they parted ways.

_A few days later, at a rural Japanese Village, 2AM…_

"Tell me again why we're paying any attention to a measly little Japanese village?" An Ultratech soldier complained, primarily because paying said attention to a Japanese village meant her trudging up and down the edge of it in the middle of the night to make sure nobody left.

"Because it's out of the way. Sure the Japanese government would be up in a fit if they found out, but that's why we picked a rural little village and not a bigger settlement. Still a shame we had to kill that girl though." A fellow Ultratech soldier responded, the two of them walking along the edge of the village.

"Still: I don't have much of an issue with taking human test subjects by force, but a Japanese village? We'd be better off stealing people from a third-world country. There's bound to be something about this place we're not being told. _Like _why we were instructed to shoot an 18 year-old girl and her parents for no apparent reason." The first Ultratech soldier reminded, noticing something strange. "Hey, what's with all the mist?"

"Not sure…..don't really know of a weather phenomenon that causes mist along the ground." The second Ultratech soldier answered, looking at the grassy ground they walked on as a strange covering of mist drifted through. Getting more intense, both soldiers looked forward at where the mist seemed to be coming from. "What the hell…?"

Standing on the dirt road leading out of the village was a peculiar hooded figure, seemingly pitch black despite the moonlight shining down on it. With what looked to be a massive odachi sword & sheath diagonally strapped to its back, the figure was just standing there in the road. Raising their guns at it, both Ultratech soldiers were thoroughly put on edge when the mysterious figure vanished. No bombastic cloud of smoke, no visual effect to announce its departure, no residual particles, the figure just wasn't there anymore, almost like someone hitting the delete key on it.

"That was….do we need to stay here?" The first Ultratech soldier asked, firmly clutching her weapon as she aimed it where the figure was. Nerves running high, things were quickly over as a sharp puncturing noise erupted, followed by a long blade spearing through the soldier's back and out her front. Startled, the still-surviving second soldier looked over, seeing his now-dead ally locked up with the long, blood-covered blade of an odachi running through her. The blade sliding back out, the dead Ultratech soldier fell to her knees before her head was swiftly taken off with a horizontal slash. Getting a good look at the weapon's wielder, it was foreboding if anything.

The figure was tall and lanky, standing around 6'2" with thin arms and only slightly more beefy legs. Judging by the figure's overall body shape, the Ultratech soldier estimated the assailant was female. In counter to that, the being seemed to have exposed fingers and toes with malformed nails, the nails looking more like reinforced bone claws extending from every digit rather than nails. Her attire primarily consisted of what looked to be a torn black kimono, the upper half tattered and ripped while the lower half was completely torn wide open and hanging back like a pair of coattails. The lower half of the kimono also possessing holes and rips, the being's otherwise exposed legs were wrapped tight with black bandages, not a shred of skin being visible aside from the front of her feet. The arms were similar, with the sleeves of the kimono bound tight by more black bandages wrapping over her skin and the palms of her hands, offsetting the being's otherwise ghostly, bleached-white skin. In addition to the loose black hood raised over her head, almost all of the woman's face was wrapped tight with more black bandages. With everything except the quarter of her face that was above the mouth and right of her nose being wrapped up, the being's white skin offset her one exposed eye, which had a black sclera and blood red iris.

With long, midnight black hair protruding through the bandages on the left side of her head and hanging down unobstructed on the right, it easily reached down to her upper chest, likening her even more to something straight out of Japanese horror. Making things even creepier was that her sheath's strap running across her chest seemed to be made from the same mist flowing over the ground. Holding her odachi in her right hand like it was weightless, the mysterious woman ran the blade between her left bicep and forearm, wiping the blood off. Obviously agitated by the Ultratech soldier's presence, the strange woman bent forward slightly and let out an ear-shattering scream, which was made even more terrifying as what was supposed to be her lower jaw stretched impossibly far down, a good 2-3 feet, only to snap right back when done. Not even starting to issue a demand to stand down, the Ultratech soldier instead fired on her with his VHS-2 rifle, not doing much more than kicking off some dust at the points of impact. Her body not even jerking or twisting with the rounds, his gunfire was utterly pointless. Twisting her sword to hold it upside down, the ghostly figure slammed the bottom of the hilt right into his stomach, causing the man to keel over. Vanishing in an instant like before, the woman re-appeared in midair behind him, holding her weapon above her head with both hands. Coming down swiftly, the woman slashed the man vertically in two, the Ultratech soldier serving as no competition whatsoever.

"It's a shame you had to pay for the mistakes of your superiors, but the road to their end must be paved with your blood." The woman spoke in a distorted voice, sounding like she was trapped in some kind of spiritual limbo. Sheathing her massive sword, the woman took one last look at her home village, then down at the fateful road she was murdered on. Closing her one visible eye, the Onryō thought back on her death, then turned to leave, not wanting to stop until she'd eviscerated everything tied to Ultratech.

Post-Chapter Note

Hopefully this chapter will reel in some people, tried to make it longer, better, and more detailed while not sacrificing anything. Also, I want to apologize for the last chapter, Autocorrect really screwed me over in some places (Such as turning Unable into table e.e), which might've turned off some people from reviewing by making them think I don't know how to write. I'll probably go back and edit out those mistakes at some point, but for now I'm just trying to keep things moving forward. As such, any and all reviews are welcome, since the more detailed ones let me know where I'm doing good, where I'm doing bad, what to capitalize on, where to do better, etc.

In addition to that, any comments on the small homages to cybernetic Smoke (Such as the nod to the puffs of smoke around him and his trident, which replaced his kunai-toss he borrowed from Scorpion when he was human) or the MK games is greatly appreciated. Probably one of my favorite things to read is when a fan gives their own thoughts on where they think something's going or what's a nod to what.

Not much to say beside that right now, other than that this Onryō character was put in as a response to having seen the Ghost Girl character at the end of Aganos' trailer. I was going to keep the story completely OC-free, but I decided to put this in as a representation of what I expected the Ghost Girl to be like based on her silhouette in the Season 2 Launch Trailer. The Ghost Girl will still be in, just this is a less cutesy (How am I supposed to take that freakishly large bow on her dress seriously?) version that more pays homage to Japanese horror than borderline ripping it off. Sure you can argue the black hair is pretty Grudge-ey, but the Ghost Girl looks like someone took Teke Teke and The Grudge and fused them together, so this just tries to be a little bit different.


End file.
